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Apple’s Activation Lock said to cause drop in iPhone theft

Police officers in New York, London, and San Francisco claim they’re seeing a drop in smartphone theft, and Apple’s Activation Lock may be the reason, The New York Times reports. New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón both believe the Apple “kill switch” is leading to the drop, as police officers in San Francisco and London said iPhone robberies have decreased in their cities by 38 percent and 24 percent, respectively, since Apple released the feature. New York police have also noted a drop in Apple product theft when comparing the first five months of 2014 to the same period in 2013.

Apple’s Activation Lock requires an Apple ID and password before anyone can turn off Find My iPhone, sign out of iCloud, or erase and reactivate a device. Bloomberg reports that Google and Microsoft will soon follow Apple by incorporating a “kill switch” feature into their new operating systems.